One of the most widely published photographers of contemporary architecture, Iwan Baan is noted for his documentary images that narrate the life and interactions occurring within architecture. His approachable photos focused on the portrayal of people in the sociocultural context of architecture intrigue such clients as Rem Koolhaas, Toyo Ito and Zaha Hadid, but also The New York Times, Domus or Abitare.
We met the Amsterdam-born photographer at work in the northern French town of Lens, where he captured the poetic architecture of the new Louvre for ERCO. In our film interview Baan, who is in his mid-thirties, sheds light on his photographic style, his approach to architecture, and his first camera.
New York Magazine’s cover
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy I chartered a helicopter and shot the now iconic image of New York without power.
November 3rd, 2013
A selection of the press about the cover:
Artinfo: Post-Sandy, Two Icons Emerge From the Architectural World
Time Magazine: A COVER FOR THE AGES
The Verge: How the iconic post-Sandy ‘New York’ cover photo was shot
NYMAG: More Images From New York’s Sandy Cover
Architizer: How Iwan Baan got that phenomenal shot
Phaidon: Iwan Baan photographs a powerless New York
Aiming for an Artistic ‘Icon’ – The Wall Street Journal
Developer Stephen Ross has selected the British artist and designer Thomas Heatherwick to create what could be one of the most expensive works of public art in the world, in the hopes of establishing a must-see attraction at the heart of his $15 billion Hudson Yards development on Manhattan’s West Side.
Read the complete article in The Wall Street Journal…
Necessity as the mother of invention: Photos of homes in unexpected places
Iwan Baan is not as interested in what architects build as he is in the beautiful ways that people appropriate the spaces once the planners are gone. In his TED Talk, Baan — whose breathtaking image of lower Manhattan after Hurricane Sandy hangs on at least one of our walls — shows incredible images from communities thriving in ways that seem quite opposite to the uniformity of suburbs.
Watch Iwan Baan’s TED talk: Ingenious homes in unexpected places
In the center of Caracas, Venezuela, stands the 45-story ‘Tower of David,’ an unfinished, abandoned skyscraper. But about eight years ago, people started moving in. Photographer Iwan Baan shows how people build homes in unlikely places, touring us through the family apartments of Torre David, a city on the water in Nigeria, and an underground village in China. Glorious images celebrate humanity’s ability to survive and make a home anywhere.
Photographer Iwan Baan captures the many ways people shape their shared built environment from glossy starchitecture to handmade homes.
News coverage:
- ArchDaily: The 20 Most Inspiring TED Talks for Architects, May 27, 2014
- LA Times: Moment of Friday: Jeff Allsbrook digs Iwan Baan’s TED Talk on DIY design, October 17, 2014
- Archdaily: Why Iwan Baan’s TED Talk Was Right, November 8, 2013
- Archdaily, October 16, 2013
- Metropolis Magazine, October 23, 2013
- TED.com (blog), October 16, 2013
Who is winning the architecture Arms Race? – Photo Essay – The New York Times
The New York Times Magazine published Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Alyev Cultural Center in Baku
School at Sea – Photo Essay – New York Times
The New York Times Magazine published the Makoko Floating School by NLE – Kunle Adeyemi
By Michael Kimmelman
Een foto vol kwetsbaarheid – Trouw
Dutch newspaper Trouw on Iwan Baan’s New York photo after Hurricane Sandy.
